


Afternoon Tea

by Hippiainen



Series: A Light Lost in the Dark [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen, awkward family tea, badly if you ask Aleena, how do people deal with Sith as parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:05:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hippiainen/pseuds/Hippiainen
Summary: For most people afternoon tea with their father might sound like a lovely time, but for Aleena it is something to be dreaded. Then again, how else is a Jedi supposed to feel about having tea with a member of the Dark Council, especially after you’ve done everything to tell him how much happier you would be back with the Jedi.





	Afternoon Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Natjana is [Chivalin's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chivalin) wonderful Sith, and unfortunately Aleena and she don't get along.

Apparently for the sake of propriety, or some other Imperial or Sith thing, Mortis had decided to hold family tea. Which couldn’t in all honestly have been either, as they had never, much to Aleena’s relief, had family tea. Thankfully, Mortis was always too busy to have tea, and Aleena had unequivocally taken advantage of the fact to avoid him.

Which had led to her pacing around the house since she’d heard about it in the morning. Not that Mortis had told that to her himself, or even written a note, no – he had had one of the slaves inform her.

And so, she finds herself outside of the door leading to pavilion at quarter to four. Aleena raises her hand to the handle, taking a deep breath before turning the handle and pushing the door open.

The fragrance of the flowers is almost overwhelming when she steps outside, the rain drops gently falling onto the roof, creating a calm atmosphere. Her heart beats faster in her chest, the contrast to the surrounding nature feeling dizzying.

“Aleena. Please, sit down,” looking up from his datapad, Mortis’ words cut the air despite their politeness. Aleena is expecting it, her recent antics are the reason for this ‘family’ meeting.

Her feet drag along the floor, hoping the ground would swallow her, or preferably the table and the man sitting at it. When she finally sits down, Mortis lays down the datapad, the business of running the Empire forgotten for a while.

Right on cue, a human slave steps forward and pours the tea to the cups in front of them before retreating to his former position by the door. Aleena doesn’t even try to hide the crinkling of her nose, her ‘father’ already knows her opinion regarding slavery.

Mortis picks few small sandwiches before speaking again, “I don’t see any reason to pretend that you are happy here, your recent actions speak enough for themselves.” Aleena manages to nod, her recent escape attempt had ended poorly, to say the least. And it was hardly the first time.

“But it saddens me, that you don’t even try to make the effort. I have shown you far more leniency than many would have expected, tried my best to make you feel at home. And yet, here we are,” Aleena can’t even look at Mortis, the man’s cold, judgmental gaze making her keep her eyes at the tea in front of her.

“I…” the words are stuck at the back of her throat, she really doesn’t know how to make him understand. She’s on the other side of the galaxy, living among the people she’s been told are the greatest monsters in the galaxy, and it’s hard to argue with that from everything she’s seen. Each of her meetings with the Sith seemed to have gone worse than the last. 

The latest one only few days ago having ended with the Sith suggesting she’d practice mind control on unfortunate slaves. And the fact that Natjana had made the suggestion to make up for their earlier argument, which had escalated far more quickly than Aleena had expected. Natjana had advanced upon her, and she had done the only thing that felt feasible, ran. Not that she had gotten far, and the echoes of the Force curling around her throat still haunted her. 

Each second spent here made her so tired. Not only was her connection to the Force blocked by the dark side, making drawing on the comforting light almost an impossibility. But she spent so much time just trying to keep up with the culture and language. It had been long enough that people expected her to understand, to be part of it all, at least to some extent. She was just so exhausted. Fighting the tears rising into her eyes, she breaths deep, still not raising her eyes, “I just –”

“Aleena, I don’t want to hear it,” it’s the first time she’s heard Mortis sound as exhausted as she feels. “I’ve tried talking with you, tried finding people who might make you see – and yet every single person I’ve talked has said that you don’t even try to listen, let alone want to understand. You go on and push the tired old Jedi arguments, not even caring to listen what each of them have to say.”

Aleena can feel few tears rolling down her cheeks, “You think I want this?” she rises up without truly realising it, “Want to feel like I’m lost, surrounded by people who think I should belong just because my parents are Sith?”

She can feel the pavilion grow cold, the dark side seeping itself into the very air stronger than before, “Sit down.” The command is absolute, ringing in the air. It is the voice of Darth Mortis, imposing, and expecting every single command to be obeyed without hesitation.

Aleena glares at Mortis for a moment before sitting down.

“It was only two days ago that Darth Aruk suggested I’d deal with you like we deal with any other Jedi too stubborn for their own good.”

The words chill Aleena to the core, making her shudder despite the warm air. She’s heard enough rumours about what Sith do to Jedi, of the torture, how they break Jedi into something unrecognisable. She gulps, there’s no need to lose her spine right now, “Then why don’t you? It would solve your problem, you’d get the obedient daughter you want!”

Aleena is caught off guard by the hurt in Mortis’ eyes, before the man before her has the change to collect himself. He doesn’t answer right away, instead opting to sip his tea, “Because I can’t bear to lose you twice. You might not be the daughter I imagined, but you are, never the less, my daughter. Despite whatever lies the Jedi have told you, we do care about family.”

She hates how calm and collected he looks when those words leave his lips. The disparity between his words and his expression annoys her, if the Sith were supposed to be about passion, why can’t he show any of it? Or is this the end result of staying at the top of the Sith society for so long?

“And now we’ve reached the point where I’m running low on options,” Mortis makes sure he was looking Aleena straight into her eyes, they shine with the same amount of conviction and passion as her mother’s all those years ago, the little independent part of his and Indran’s daughter that the Jedi had been unable to extinguish.

Aleena pulls her arms around herself, but keeps her eyes on the man. She really doesn’t want to hear these options, as she doubts none of them are something she’d agree with.

“I have no desire to resort to anything radical, I doubt either of us would enjoy that,” Mortis pauses for a moment, as if thinking, “So I propose an agreement, as you at least seem to keep your word regarding those.” It was true, she had promised not to run from Rosmar, and she hadn’t, but he hadn’t specified anyone else.

Aleena nods before Mortis continues, “Good, I would like you to have dinner with an associate of mine. During this dinner you will behave yourself, listen, and not make a scene. Afterwards we’ll discuss what you wish from life.”

Aleena’s eyebrow raises a little, this is the first time he’s promised to listen to what she actually wants. It’s not a promise to act upon her wishes, but it’s better than nothing. “I – very well,” she can do that much, but if they try to push her like the last Sith, she isn’t going to sit there and take it.

A small smile plays on Mortis’ lips, it might be there only for a moment, but it softens his features. “I’m glad, I truly wish you to adjust to your life there, and to be happy. But I can’t force you into these things.”

The guilt and shame wash over Aleena, she hates the fact that an almost stranger is able to make her feel this way. The fact that he’s a Sith doesn’t help, she wants to believe it’s all genuine, but everything she’s ever been taught tell about Sith manipulations.

“I… I’m sorry…” Aleena’s fingers play with the edge of her sleeve, “I know you must have expected something else, but I am what I am. But if you are worried I’d return to the Order after all of this – I don’t think I could. I know what they did is wrong, and I’m not sure they’d even accept me back,” she lowers her eyes, the tears have started to fall again, “not after everything, not like this.”

She hears the chair opposite to hers scrape against the pavilion floor, causing her to raise her eyes to see what Mortis is doing. She has a moment of panic as the man approaches her, but she steels herself and doesn’t move. Mortis lowers himself to one knee, gently bringing his hand to Aleena’s shoulder before seeking her eyes. The intense red of his eyes feels terrifying, just a further reminder of everything this man has done and is capable of. And yet, there’s something reassuring in it all.

“It’s not your fault,” the words are calm, but she can sense the underlying fury in the Force. It’s not directed at her but at the Jedi – it always is. “You never chose any of this, and yet all the consequences have fallen upon your shoulders,” Mortis gently moves his hand to her arm, pulling her to the floor and into an awkward hug.

Even though she doesn’t trust the man, she can admit that the hug feels nice, and she finds herself leaning into it, wrapping her own arms around him. The warmth and closeness are something she’s missed. Not that people other than Mariel ever hugged her, but she still misses it all.

Mortis holds on to her tight, almost as if he’s afraid she’ll disappear any second, just drift into the air, like smoke. It is also when she becomes aware of the Force, of the dark side, gently wrapping itself around her, surrounding her with a strange warmth. It is so different from the usual cold harshness that she’s come to expect from it, the feeling is almost surreal.

He loosens his hold and his eyes seek out Aleena’s, “I will do anything to protect you,” he’d promised Indran that, and he wouldn’t break it now. Mortis swipes Aleena’s tears with his sleeve before planting a quick kiss on her forehead, “Let’s finish our tea, shall we?” Mortis rises from the floor, leaving Aleena to sit there for a moment longer. She closes her eyes, and she can’t help but wonder if she’s the only person in the galaxy who sees this gentler side of him.


End file.
